Longwall conveyors for mineral mines

ABSTRACT

A LONGWALL CONVEYOR IN A MINERAL MINING INSTALLATION HAVING ATTACHMENTS DETACHABLY SECURED ON THE SIDE THEREOF REMOTE FROM THE MINERAL FACE. THE ATTACHMENTS. COMPRISE A PLATE FORMED WITH A GUIDE RAIL AT ITS UPPER EDGE FOR GUIDING A MINERAL WINNING MACHINE EXTENDING OVER THE CONVEYOR, AND AT LEAST ONE FURTHER PLATE DETACHABLY SECURED TO THE FIRST MENTIONED PLATE. THE FURTHER PLATE SERVES TO DEFINE PASSAGES FOR RECEIVING AND GUIDING A TRACTION CHAIN USED TO MOVE THE AFORESAID MINERAL WINNING MACHINE.

United States Patent O 3,556,601 LONGWALL CONVEYORS FOR MINERAL MINES Gunther Dommann and Werner Mennekes, Altlunen,

Westphalia, Germany, assignors to Gewerkschaft Eisenhutte Westfalia, Wethmar, near Altlunen, Westphalia, Germany, a body corporate organized and existing under the laws of Germany Filed Feb. 5, 1969, Ser. No. 796,680 Claims priority, application Germany, Apr. 23, 1968,

Inf. cl. Ez1c 25/52 U.S. Cl. 299-43 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Mining installations employing longwall conveyors are well known in the mining art. It is known to attach devices to the goaf or waste side of longwall conveyors. These devices serve to enlarge the load capacity of the conveyors, to guide a winning machine and/or to receive hydraulic conduits electric cables or like service lines. In general, the known attachment devices adequately perform their function Where the working conditions are constant. However the devices can only be adapted to a very slight extent to changing Working conditions. This is especially disadvantageous because with the progress of the mine working the operating conditions frequently change. Then often quite complicated, timeconsuming conversions to the conveyor and installation are necessary.

It is an object of the present invention to provide attachments for a conveyor which will mitigate these problems as far as possible and allow the mining installation constructed according to the invention to be usable in various working conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention there is provided for use in mineral mining the combination of a longwall conveyor, guide means on one side of the conveyor for guiding a first mineral winning machine for sliding along said one side, a first plate attached to the other side of the conveyor which plate has a gmide rail formed at its upper edge which serves for the guidance of a second winning machine, and at least one further plate detachably secured to the side of the first plate remote from the centre of the conveyor, partition means disposed in the space between the first plate and thel said at least one further plate and dividing said space into at least two passages, the first of said at least two passages being intended to receive and guide the haulage run of a traction chain for moving the second winning machine and the second of said at least the passages being intended to receive and guide the return run of said traction chain.

The further plate can be a T-shaped rail which has a central web disposed at or near the first plate. The T- shaped rail can have its main flange secured to and spaced from, the first plate by means of bolts. The second pas- Patented Jan. 19, 1971 sage can be closed by means of an L-shaped plate attached to the main flange of the T-shaped rail with the bolts which secure the T-shaped rail to the first plate. A third passage can then be formed between the central web of the T-shaped rail and the support bolts. This third passage is substantially closed at the top and sides and is open at the bottom by the gaps between the support bolts. Service cables, hoses, signal lines and the like can be accommodated with advantage in the third passage, and these items are effectively protected from damage in the mine working.

If the first plate does not extend up high enough to enlarge the loading capacity of the conveyor to an adequate extent, then a guard plate can also be attached to the main upright flange of the T-shaped rail by means of bolts.

The openings in the guard plates for receiving bolts are preferably so arranged that the guard plates themselves can form the first plates and thus become interchangeable therewith.

Moreover, it is useful to provide the said guard plates with recessed pockets into which support frameworks can be introduced. These frameworks which can be formed from tubes, may serve for example for receiving and supporting other service leads such as towed cables or hoses, used if, for example, one of the winning machines should be provided with its own drive power.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a mineral mining installation comprising:

(a) a longwall conveyor,

(b) a first mineral winning machine,

(c) guide means for guiding said first machine for movement along the mineral-face-side of the conveyor, (d) a first plate attached to the other side of the conveyor,

(e) a guide rail formed at the upper edge of said first plate,

(f) a second mineral winning machine extending across the conveyor and guided on said guide rail,

(g) at least one further plate detachably secured to said first plate and disposed on the side of' said first plate remote from opposite the conveyor,

(h) partition means dividing the space between the first plate and said at least one further plate into a first and a second passage,

(i) a traction chain for driving the second winning machine, the haulage mn of said chain being disposed in the first passage and the return run of said chain being disposed in the second passage.

If the conveyor with its winning machines is to be shifted up to follow the progress of working by means of shifting units, then the aforementioned L-shaped plates which in part define the closed passage for the return run of the tractor chain, can have externally-formed attachment eyes for securing the shifting units.

The particular advantage of the formation and arrangement of the conveyor and installation as described consists in that it is easy to attach to the conveyor only the parts which are necessary for operation under prevailing conditions. If the conditions change, then the attachment parts can be removed, replaced or exchanged as need be. There is also the fact that the individual parts are subjected to differing amounts of wear. In accordance with the invention only the worm attachment parts in each case need to be replaced and exchanged. The nature of the attachments also has the effect of allowing substantially cheaper and simpler storing. Each individual attachment part moreover has a relatively low weight, so that it can be conveyed without great difficulty even in the constricted mine spaces.

attr A A constructional embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. l is a diagrammatic Side elevation of a coal mine working containing a mineral mining installation and conveyor made in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the goat-side of the conveyor of FIG. 1 showing the parts connected therewith, the view being on a larger scale than FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The installation shown in the drawing has a rst winning machine in the form of a coal plough 11 which serves to win coal from a coal face 10. The plough 11 is guided on a longwall conveyor 13 for movement along the face 10. To this end, a special guide ramp 14 is arranged on the coal-face side of the conveyor 13 and `serves as guide means for the plough 11. The ramp 14- at the same time encloses the two runs of the plough haulage chain in protective manner. A second winning machine is mounted generally above the conveyor 13. This machine is in the form of a rotatable hewing cylinder 12, which as shown in the drawing, has a winning tool engaging the face over substantially the entire seam thickness. Alternatively the diameter of the winning tool of the cylinder 12 can be somewhat less than the thickness of the seam. The winning machine 12 is also guided on the conveyor 13 for relative movement along the face 10. The machine 12 is supported on the coal face side prole 15 of the conveyor 13 while on the goaf side the machine 12 has a support foot 16 which slidably engages a guide rail 17 (see particularly FIG. 2). The guide rail 17 is formed at the upper edge of a plate 18. The plate 18 extends above the upper surface of the side profiles of the conveyor 13 and is clamped to the goat-side prole of the conveyor 13 by means of bolts 19.

A further T-shaped rail 20 is disposed on the side of the plate 1'8 remote from the conveyor 13. The rail 20` has a central horizontal web which engages or is near to the adjacent side of the plate 18. The main upright ange 22 of the rail 20 is secured to the plate 18 by means of bolts 23. Instead of having separate bolts 23, the bolts 19 can additionally serve to support the rail 20. In this case the bolts designated 19, 23 would be the same item. In addition, the bolts 19, or 23 as the case may be, also serve to secure an L-shaped or angle plate 24 to the rail 20. The arm 25 of the plate 24 extends vertically upwards and the other arm 26 of the plate 24 extends horizontally and, in the embodiment as illustrated also beneath the goat-Side profile of the conveyor 13. The arm 25 of the rail 24 has spaced coupling eyes 26 on which piston and cylinder units 38 are pivotally attached. The units 38 are also attached to a support assembly, not designated, disposed on the goat-side of the conveyor 13. The units 38 serve to shift the conveyor 13 relative to the support assembly in known fashion.

The plate 18 and the upper part of the main flange 11 of the rail 20 form an upwardly-open passage 27, in which the haulage run 28 of a chain for driving the winning machine 12 is received for guidance. The return run 29 of this haulage chain moves in a closed passage 30 which is formed by the lower part of the plate 18 and the L-shaped plate 24. A further passage is formed between the bolts 23 and the web 21 of the rail and thispassage serves to receive cables, hoses and other Cil service leads 32 which run alongside the conveyor. The service leads 32 can thus be advanced constantly with the conveyor as is desirable.

.l Finallyit should be mentioned that guard plates 33 'can be Aattached `to the main flange 22 of the rails 20 with the aid of bolts 34. These plates 33 are widely used in mineral'rnining conveyors in order to increase the load capacity thereof. The plates 33- can extend upwards as high as desired and the openings in the plates 33' for receiving the securing bolts 34 are preferably so arranged that the guard plates 33 can be used in place of the plates 18 at the goat-side of the conveyor 13 and are thus interchangeable therewith. Thus, the same standard part can be usedas the plate 18 or the plate 33 as desired.

In the" illustrated embodiment, the guard plates 33 carry welded-0n pockets 35 or other connection elements on their goaf side. In case of need, frame assemblies 36 formed from welding tubes together can be supported in these pockets 35. The assemblies 36 form a support track for receiving additional service lines such as electrical cables 37 providing electrical power to the second winning machine 12 We claim:

1. For use in mineral mining the combination of a longwall conveyor, guide means disposed on one side of the conveyor for guiding a mineral winning machine therealong, a lirst plate detachably secured to the other side of the conveyor, said lst plate having a guide rail formed at its upper edge for supporting and guiding a further winning machine, a T-shaped rail with a ange extending substantially parallel to said rst plate and detachably secured thereto by xing means and a central web disposed in the region of the outer side of said trst plate, and an L-Shaped rail having an upright arm detachably secured to the rst plate and a further arm extending inwardly towards the centre of the conveyor, `wherein a passage is formed above the central web of the T-shaped rail which passage is intended to receive and guide the haulage run of the traction chain for driving the further winning machine and a further passage is formed below said web and dened by said L-shaped plate the further passage being intended to receive and guide the return run of said traction chain.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein there is further provided a guard plate which is detachably secured to the main ange of the T-shaped rail, said guard plate extending upwardly beyond the side of the conveyor to thereby increase the loading capacity thereof.

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein the guard plate is formed with recessed pockets for receiving a frame assembly serving for the accommodation of service cables.

` References Cited UNITED ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary 'Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

